TWO local women – one battling poor health, the other trying desperately for a baby – have spoken of how their bid to lose weight had life-changing consequences they could hardly have imagined!
For eight heart-breaking years, husband and wife Gareth and Louise Beresford tried desperately for a second child, while diabetes sufferer Kris Melarkey also battled a condition which left her too exhausted to play with her beloved grandchildren.
The Enniskillen parents went through a number of investigations but after Gareth fell ill a few years ago, the couple decided to “stop wishing for something they couldn’t have”.
However, after the birth of her grandniece last year, 32-year-old Louise decided to give it one last go.
After enrolling on a healthy eating and exercise programme in April 2013, just two months later the couple received the news they had waited eight years to hear and finally welcomed their ‘miracle’ baby into their family in February this year.
“We have a daughter, Caitlin who is 15-years-old and when we got married in 2005 we naively thought we would stop using contraception and start trying for a baby right away, but it never happened,” she said.
“It was unexplained. We went for investigations to find out what was wrong, but we were unable to find out because we had to wait for a second fertility referral which could take two years.
“Then we had a very rough year with sickness in 2010 when my father was diagnosed with terminal cancer and my husband fell ill. So we thought we wouldn’t pursue it and stop wishing for something we couldn’t have.
“After my niece had her baby we thought we would give it another try and we said we would go to the fertility clinic and do it properly. I read that eating healthily can help the imbalance of hormones so decided to start following a healthy lifestyle.
“I started the Slim For Life programme in Enniskillen in April then in June I found out I was expecting. We had been trying for eight years then it all seemed to fall into place.
“In February this year my miracle baby son, Nathan was born. We never thought it would happen so easily after so long.”
Also reaping the benefits of living a healthy lifestyle is 62-year-old Kris from Lisnaskea, who was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes seven years ago after her weight rose to over 18 stone.
After joining Elaine Millar’s Slim For Life classes, Kris lost 3.5 stone. Her medication was cut from five tablets a day to three tablets and her blood pressure went back to normal.
“I was trying to get rid of the weight and I couldn’t do it on my own,” she said.
“There was a lot of things I couldn’t do like exercising or walk for a long time.
“I have three grandchildren who are always at me to do stuff with them and I wasn’t fit for it.
“I felt frustrated and it got me down that I couldn’t play with them.
“Elaine recommends following a healthy lifestyle and gives recipes every week.
“I couldn’t have done it on my own and now I have no problem as I know what I can and can’t eat.”
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